How verification works
Nobody approves a 3PL. The evidence does.
Any 3PL can list on InsideDock. We don't gatekeep applicants and we don't rate them with a number we made up. Instead, every claim on a profile carries a label that says where it came from, and the labels do the work.
The four labels
- Measured
- Recorded by InsideDock itself. First-response time and quote turnaround are timestamped from the moment a brand sends an inquiry. The 3PL never enters these.
- Verified
- Checked against a source we don't control: a business registry, an insurance certificate read for coverage and expiry, or a review from a brand whose relationship with the 3PL we confirmed.
- Self-reported
- Entered by the 3PL. Capabilities, team size, average tenure, integrations, pricing. Useful, unproven.
- Unavailable
- Not provided. We show the empty row instead of removing it.
Discovery ratings
Every brand that contacts a 3PL through InsideDock is asked, 30 days later, to rate the sales process: speed, clarity, whether the quote matched the intake, whether they felt helped or sold to. It's asked whether or not they signed, so the brands who chose someone else are counted too. Shown on the profile as a measured rating with the number of non-signing brands included.
How reviews work
There are three kinds, and they're labeled. Matched here reviews come from brands that sent an inquiry through InsideDock and later confirmed, in a 30-, 60-, or 90-day check-in, that they signed and went live. Client-invited reviews come from a 3PL's existing clients: the 3PL sends invitations from its dashboard, we confirm the reviewer's business email matches a real company, and we show how many were invited next to how many responded. Unsolicited reviews come from any brand that works with a 3PL, whether or not InsideDock was involved: they confirm a work email at a real company domain and attest they're a current or former client. Every matched brand is also asked for a full service review at day 180; that one is marked “day 180” and the profile shows how many matched brands answered it. Reviews are never edited or removed because a 3PL dislikes them. A 3PL can post one public response to any review.
Employee signals
Current and former employees can answer an anonymous five-question survey about a 3PL: tenure, whether they'd recommend working there, whether management is reachable, how they'd describe turnover, and whether safety is taken seriously. We verify employment with a work email or pay stub, then discard it. Results appear only once five or more people have answered, and there are no written comments, so no one can be identified by what they said.
Why there's no sales team
Matchmakers usually employ people to qualify brands and pitch 3PLs on them, paid for through fees the 3PLs pass into their rates. InsideDock has none. The brand's intake form and the 3PL's stated ideal customer do the qualifying. Nobody from InsideDock will call either side, and there's no one to sell you a better position.
How the default sort works
“Most verified first” ranks by the count of verified and measured fields, then by median response time, then by verified rating. Every 3PL pays the same, so fees cannot be an input. There is no paid placement, and there won't be.
Disputes
A 3PL can dispute a review it believes is fraudulent or from someone who was never a client. We ask the reviewer for an invoice or contract. If they can't produce one within 14 days, the review comes down. Disagreement about service quality is not grounds for removal.